B2Gold Corp. $BTG Shares Bought by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in B2Gold Corp. by 26.1%, owning 742,192 shares worth approximately $2.11 million after acquiring an additional 153,406 shares.
• B2Gold recently posted quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share, missing analysts' estimates, but saw a 40.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, scheduled for payment on September 23rd, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.0%.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 26.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 742,192 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 153,406 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.06% of B2Gold worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 154,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,974 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,389,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,510,000 after purchasing an additional 130,638 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 109.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 50,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 26,379 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of B2Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,285,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,170,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,033,000 after purchasing an additional 468,786 shares during the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut B2Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded B2Gold to a "moderate buy" rating and set a $4.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (up from $3.60) on shares of B2Gold in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, B2Gold presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.31.

B2Gold Trading Up 2.2%

B2Gold stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $4.13. The company had a trading volume of 27,960,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,277,234. B2Gold Corp. has a 1-year low of $2.20 and a 1-year high of $4.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $3.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.39.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). B2Gold had a negative net margin of 33.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 40.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio is -22.86%.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp.